ZHPizza's red car

[ZHPizza]

2005 BMW 330CI ZHP 6MT
Imola/Alcantara
VIN: WBABD53425PD99095

Time to start logging this mess before I forget everything that I've done.

Here's my intro thread for everyone that's like "wait who's this pizza dude now i'm hungry"

And here's red car when I got it home after I was forced into buying it:



I'm still not used to just how damn red this thing is. Yeesh.


The story behind this car is that it spent its entire life in Florida where it was a lease vehicle and then purchased afterwards. The [presumably] 2nd owner traded it in last year, it went to auction, and was picked up by an online dealer in NC. We found it there with just over 150k miles on it and it was worn, but had been dealer maintained and was too good of a deal to walk away from. So now I have a red car. Great.

[san]

I'm still not used to just how damn red this thing is. Yeesh.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sockethead]

Always good to see another ZHP saved and restored...

[ZHPizza]

To expand a bit on how the car went from Florida to my garage:

Spenser/704sw (who was actually looking for a ZHP) found it on craigslist and sent it to me (who was in no way looking for any car at all). It was listed for $7k, which we felt was way too cheap.

Here is my actual response:

I don't like red, but dude. This is a potential unicorn. Can we plasti dip it matte gray?

Also, here's your price killer:

6/9/16
Florida
Damage ReportAccident reported
Vehicle involved in a rear-end collision
Involving front impact
with another motor vehicle

Fuck it I want it

So we drove up there and the conversation went like this:

S: Bruh, this car is in tight condition.
N: Bruh, this car runs like stink.
S: Bruh, the adaptive headlights are brand new. Sick accident bonus.
N: Bruh, one of us gotta buy this car. Today.
S: Bruh, I can't buy a whip today.
N (turning to the salesman): Bruh, do the paperwork.

And I came home with a bright red car that I had no idea what to do with.

[slater]

VIN: WBABD53425PD99095

blue car's VIN ends in PD99515. pretty close to that one! yours is a tiny bit older. and it's a 1/05 build, so it has the factory RACP reinforcement piece. sweet.

I'm still not used to just how damn red this thing is. Yeesh.

yeah, it's really red, but..... not really REALLY red.

Always good to see another ZHP saved and restored...

+1000000000000000000000

[slater]

So we drove up there and the conversation went like this:

S: Bruh, this car is in tight condition.
N: Bruh, this car runs like stink.
S: Bruh, the adaptive headlights are brand new. Sick accident bonus.
N: Bruh, one of us gotta buy this car. Today.
S: Bruh, I can't buy a whip today.
N (turning to the salesman): Bruh, do the paperwork.

And I came home with a bright red car that I had no idea what to do with.

classic. frame it.

[ZHPizza]

So now I have this obnoxious red car in the garage and I'm all like "whaaaat have I done."

Couldn't sleep all weekend thinking that the dealer sold it so cheap because he saw a fatal flaw, so I took it down to a local enthusiast's shop to have them go through the car on the rack. I thought for sure that the frame was bent from the wreck or something. This car can't be in this good of shape, right?

Here is a summary of the findings:

• Small leak at OFHG - duh, it's an e46
• Very minor leak oil pan gasket - duh, it's an e46
• Radiator is bent in the lower left corner. Comforting in a way to know that the impact wasn't bad enough to warrant a new radiator.
• Still has the original rear bumper shocks, so the impact must have been high and resulted in a new trunk.
• Hood was replaced with one from a 2006
• Brand new headlights ($1500 each!)
• All BMW parts throughout. Cooling system parts from 2015. Tight.

So he says it's a great car and sends me on my way. I'm driving down the highway and the steering wheel is off of alignment THE FRAME IS BENT I FRICKEN KNOW IT!!!

Appointment at BMW can't come soon enough.

They align it with no issue, say that it is a great car, and send me on my way.

Whaaaaaaat.

[NoVAphotog]

So now I have this obnoxious red car in the garage and I'm all like "whaaaat have I done."

Couldn't sleep all weekend thinking that the dealer sold it so cheap because he saw a fatal flaw, so I took it down to a local enthusiast's shop to have them go through the car on the rack. I thought for sure that the frame was bent from the wreck or something. This car can't be in this good of shape, right?

Here is a summary of the findings:

• Small leak at OFHG - duh, it's an e46
• Very minor leak oil pan gasket - duh, it's an e46
• Radiator is bent in the lower left corner. Comforting in a way to know that the impact wasn't bad enough to warrant a new radiator.
• Still has the original rear bumper shocks, so the impact must have been high and resulted in a new trunk.
• Hood was replaced with one from a 2006
• Brand new headlights ($1500 each!)
• All BMW parts throughout. Cooling system parts from 2015. Tight.

So he says it's a great car and sends me on my way. I'm driving down the highway and the steering wheel is off of alignment THE FRAME IS BENT I FRICKEN KNOW IT!!!

Appointment at BMW can't come soon enough.

They align it with no issue, say that it is a great car, and send me on my way.

Whaaaaaaat.

These are solid cars man. Fix those little leaks and all and do a cooling system refresh and you are good to go.

[ZHPizza]

At this point I still don't know what to do with it, but I might as well get to work on some of the cosmetic stuff:

BAM Hit the mirror trim with some Carpro Dlux


BAM Hit the cowl too


You want some, cabin filter cover? HAVE SOME BAM


I ran out of Dlux while I was doing the cabin filter cover, so it came out a little splotchy. Oh well, it's under the hood.

Car is already looking fresh

[ZHPizza]

Let's get that bumper off and paint something...



BAM